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In this Issue:
- Governor's Welcome
- Chapter News
- National Meeting
- Congratulations to Award Recipients: Pictures from Annual Meeting
- Council Meeting
- Mentorship Zone
- From National ACP
- Administration News
- Congressional News and Perspective
Kwame O. Dapaah-Afriyie, MBchB, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Welcome
We just ended our Chapter's 2025 annual Scientific meeting. I want to use this opportunity to thank all of you especially our co-chairs, planning committee members, speakers/presenters, judges and our hosts (Kent Hospital Administration) for ensuring the attainment of our goals for this meeting. My deepest gratitude to Dr. Eileen Barrett who honored our invitation to be our Guest Speaker and shared insightful ideas about practical approaches to fostering professional fulfillment with us.
We are on verge of spring, a time of new and exciting beginnings. There is an overcast of the excitement of this season by ongoing momentous events at home and abroad with direct bearing on our healthcare system. Several steps have been initiated at the federal and state levels to address these events and to prevent further erosion of the fundamental principles of our profession. Last week, I watched the video recording of a group high School students singing our national anthem, the “Star-Sprangled Banner” at the atrium of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. This student-inspired tradition which began in 1987 is part of the annual Kentucky Music Educators conference. It was gratifying to note that what is now trending on social media and gaining national attention has been an annual students' endeavor for decades. Amid the deepening differences in our society, students from different high schools came together at the same location, stood in their strategic positions, and sang the same song in honor of their cherished tradition. We can glean a few lessons from them.
In honor of our cherished profession let us all continue to advocate for our patients and profession in these challenging times. As stated by author, coach and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, “disappointment can drive us or defeat us.” Let us use setbacks as leverage for working together to achieve our goals and aspirations for the advancement of patient care.
The students sang our national anthem which binds them and us together. In like manner, as ACP embarks on new advocacy goals, let us declare impavidly and unequivocally what we know about validated healthcare measures. We should all continue to endeavor to be the channels of wisdom for our patients in this climate of increasing disinformation. Another quote from Tony Robbins reminds us that our society is “drowning in information but we are starving for wisdom.” We should let our voices be heard about the importance of scientific research and adherence to proven concepts in preventative medicine at this critical time.
Leadership day activities will be held in Washington DC on April 28, 29. Attendees will receive updates and have the opportunity to interact with members of their congressional delegation. Our delegation will follow-up with additional meetings with select members of our state legislature, and in coordination with RI Medical Society work to ensure our state's legislative agendas are in line with ACP's goals.
Lastly as stated with a sense of prospicience by Martin Luther King, Jnr, “We do not have to see the whole staircase; we just need to take the first step.” Let us take the required steps.
Happy spring!
Chapter News
Committee Highlights
Health Public Policy
John Ryan is assuming a leadership role and will be co-chairing this important committee with Jonathan Leviss.
A virtual program: Legislative Action Night is being held on 04/16. This is an opportunity for us to hear about pertinent legislative actions and how we can best help ensure the ACP's priorities are achieved in our state. Information about this program has been and will be resent to all members of our chapter.
A delegation will be attending the annual ACP Leadership Day activities in Washington DC next month. Information garnered from this will be shared in the June Newsletter.
Early Career Physicians
Pinar Arikan is taking over from Sarah Freeman as the leader of this committee. Sarah's commitment and input has been laudable. Under her leadership several combined educational programs were held in conjunction with the local chapter of SHM (Society of Hospital Medicine). The most recent which was about Financial planning was held 2 weeks ago. Sarah will continue to serve on the Governor's council and our chapter's Nominating committee.
Community Initiative
Members of this committee in partnership with OASIS RI international (NGO) will start an initiative to provide educational support for its after-school Youth program. The goals include encouraging interest in life sciences and providing information about healthy lifestyles.
National Meeting
Internal Medicine is being held from April 3-5 in New Orleans. In addition, to the outlined educational program, we will have the opportunity to officially congratulate our new fellows who will be inducted and Fred Schiffman who receives a well-deserved ACP National award for Scholarly activities in Humanities and History of Medicine.
We will have 2 poster finalists at the national meeting, one in the Early Career Physician category, and the other in medical student category:
“ The Great Masquerader Strikes Again: A Rare Case of Neurosyphilis Manifesting as Syndrome of Inappropriate Diuretic Hormone Secretion (SIADH)” by Vijairam Selvaraj, MD FACP
“Infusion of Sound: Personalized Receptive Music-Based Interventions during Infusion Sessions”. by Claire Y Lin, a medical student at Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Best wishes to our colleagues from Landmark Medical Center (Hossam Mustafa, MD, Kanishka Uttam Chandani, MD, Omar Alkasabrah, MD) who will be representing our chapter at the National Doctor's Dilemma competition.
Congratulations to Award Recipients: Pictures from Annual Meeting
Milton Hamolsky Laureate Award: Harlan G. Rich, MD, FACP, AGAF
Irving Beck Laureate Award: Audrey Kupchan MD, FACP
Woman Physician of the Year: Erica Joy Hardy, MD, MA, MSSc
Distinguished Mentor Award: Basma Merhi, MD
Benjamin L. Sapers, MD Memorial Award: Arkadiy Finn, MD, FACP
Fellow Leadership Award: Mery Deeb, MD
Resident Leadership Award: Kanishka Uttam Chandani, MD
Governor's Award: Vijairam Selvaraj, MD, MPH, FACP, FHM
Harlan Rich, MD - Milton Hamolsky Laureate Award
Audrey Kupchan, MD. - Irving Beck Laureate Award
Vijairam Selvaraj, MD - Governor's Award
Award given for immense contribution to RI ACP chapter's academic initiatives and efforts to obtain the quality and technical requirments for having Journal of Brown Hospital Medicine approved for listing in PubMed Central
Winner of Podium presentations : Sarah Zainelabdin, MD
Guest speaker: Eileen Barrett. MD
Guest Speaker's Presentation
Council Meeting
The next Governor's Council meeting which will be a virtual meeting is scheduled for 03/19/2025.
Mentorship Zone
What are we learning? Who are we learning from? Who are we transferring insights to?
Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
The one who waters will also be watered.
In this newsletter, we get to learn from Warren Licht, MD, FACP, who has been nominated several times as one of our Rhode Island Top Doctors in Primary Care. His experience and insightful perspective will be beneficial to all of us especially our medical students, residents, and Early Career Physicians.
My name is Warren Licht, and I have worked as a primary care physician for over 30 years. My journey in medicine began with a residency in General Internal Medicine, in a Primary Care track. I initially took a job as an emergency physician right after residency. At that time, the requirements for working in an emergency department did not require an emergency medicine residency. I enjoyed the great challenge of figuring out medical mysteries when a patient presented with a constellation of symptoms that required the detective work of a good patient history and its corroboration with medical testing. Helping a patient figure out what their symptoms could represent, leading to a diagnosis and its treatment, was incredibly gratifying. Thankfully, this continues to be part of my experience as a primary care physician.
WHY PRIMARY CARE? Although I found working in the emergency department rewarding, I realized one thing was missing: the connection with patients over a longer period. The longitudinal relationship with my patients was not part of the emergency physician experience, and I eventually realized it was important to me. So, after two years in the emergency department, I decided to pursue the field I trained in – primary care. I am glad I did, and there was no looking back.
CHALLENGES AND CONNECTIONS: The biggest challenge when I first started in my new practice was recognizing that although I had completed a residency in primary care, I still needed guidance. I was fortunate to have invaluable mentors in those early years. Medicine is constantly evolving, and the rapid pace of change is a current challenge. But even after 30 years of practice, the ongoing learning and advances in the practice of medicine make my profession gratifying. As part of the full circle of education, I have enjoyed teaching third-year medical students during their internal medicine rotation in my office.
Beyond the long-term connection with my patients and their families, I have a passion for managing holistically the many medical problems that my patients have. Early in my career, I quickly learned that as a primary care physician, my biggest impact was not always “fixing” a medical problem with which my patient presented, but rather, helping my patients learn to live with their chronic medical conditions that are not always fixable. Empathizing while educating patients about their chronic medical conditions and how they can successfully learn to live with their conditions is challenging but rewarding.
I have also really enjoyed the many collegial relationships that have developed with the specialists with whom I have worked to optimize the care of my patients. Creating a unique strategic medical plan while being cognizant of the psychosocial needs of my patients in the process of collaborating with their specialists is incredibly gratifying. I would not be honest if I said that my profession comes without challenges. The level of stress in my day-to-day work is high, but at the same time, the rewards continue to outweigh these challenges.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am more optimistic about the future of primary care medicine. I think there is finally greater recognition by patients, insurance companies, the federal and state governments, and the medical community about the importance of the role of a primary care physician. There is undeniable recognition not only of the critical role primary care physicians play in the patient's health but also in the process of containing unnecessary health care costs. When primary care physicians have greater involvement in guiding the holistic care of their patients, they receive the best quality of care possible while reducing costs to the health care system. In conclusion, my journey as a primary care physician has been filled with challenges, continuous learning, and immense rewards. The connections I have built with my patients and the collaborative efforts with specialists have made my career incredibly fulfilling. I look forward to the future of primary care with optimism and a continued commitment to providing the best possible care for my patients.
From National ACP
ACP leadership has sent messages to the Trump Administration and leaders of the 119th Congress about issues pertaining to healthcare and physician wellbeing in line with documented ACP Priorities.
ACP is Communication with the New Administration (recommends the following:)
Improving Access to Internal Medicine Physicians and Others Providing Primary and Comprehensive Care.
Extending Health Insurance Tax Credits.
Removing Unnecessary Red Tape to Improve Patient Care – addressing prior authorization.
Protecting Public Health – access to vaccines.
ACP's Letter to the 119th Congress (recommends the following:)
Address Medicare payment cuts.
Further extend telehealth flexibilities.
Reform prior authorization in MA (Medicare Advantage) plans.
Reform pharmacy benefit manager tactics.
Extend the health insurance premium tax credits.
Protect and strengthen Medicaid.
Protect public health, ensuring access to vaccines.
Administration News
Responds to appointment of RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, postponement of vaccine advisory committee meeting.
Congressional News and Perspective
ACP Urges Congress to Protect Medicaid Amid Proposed Budget Cuts